Mayhem: Jason Miller Booked to Face Luke Barnatt After Four Year Layoff

The news that Jason 'Mayhem' Miller will return to action in Milan, Italy on May 21 to face former UFC middleweight Luke Barnatt at Venator FC 3 was met with ample concern yesterday.

The once beloved MMA veteran made his last outing when he faced CB Dolloway back in May 2012, and ever since the loss Miller has been involved a number of incidents that have led many to worry about the well-being of the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt.

Most recently, in October, Miller was arrested at his California home on the suspicion of assaulting a police officer with a ceramic tile. 'Mayhem' made headlines back in March after he got into a rift with a number of police officers after leaving 'The White House', having broken a glass during a disturbance at the South Coast restaurant.

In October 2014, the outspoken martial artist engaged in a four-hour standoff with a SWAT team at his Orange Country residence and tweeted live updates to his followers during the incident. When he was charged with resisting and obstructing an officer at Orange County District Court, Miller started a GoFundMe account where he reached out to the general public to raise $2 million for his legal defense.

Miller was charged with domestic violence back in 2013. Appearing on a HBO Real Sports investigation into 'Domestic Violence in MMA' last July, Miller cut a worrying figure as he was filmed drinking alcohol and smoking a bong before giving a bizarre interview on the topic in question.

The former host of MTV's 'Bully Beatdown' was also arrested on suspicion of burglary when he was alleged to have broken into a California church three months after his final UFC contest. He was also arrested in 2011 for allegedly assaulting his sister at a party.

There were plenty of reasons that Miller seemed to be off the wish lists of the majority of fight promoters since his exodus from UFC and his subsequent retirement. However, in a statement published by MMAFighting.com, Venator FC President Frank Merenda sounds absolutely ecstatic to have the gained the signature of 'Mayhem'.

"Mayhem Miller is a beast," Merenda stated. "He is one of the most beloved fighters of all time and people have badly missed such a performer with guts, attitude and at the same time a strong will to win big and to entertain. He's a huge, huge achievement for Venator FC to have him back in the saddle for the fans all around the world."

After the announcement, Miller released a video, which added to the MMA community's concern as he cited his upcoming bout with UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett, not his actual opponent Luke Barnett, on multiple occasions.

"I'm fighting Josh Barnett on May 21st for the title of Venator," said a hoarse Miller who appears in the video holding a bottle of beer. "So, I'm fighting Josh Barnett in Italy and I'm going to fuck him up! Catch wrestling is nothing compared to monkey jiu jitsu," he explained as he slapped his chest.

"Josh Barnett can go and fuck himself, he's going to get beaten up on the 21st," he continued. "Mayhem Miller is in full effect."

He added: "Josh Barnett is a serious opponent. He's a former UFC champion. I don't know what I'm going to do really."

Although Miller's utterance of the wrong opponent could be a humorous ploy of the returning middleweight, it certainly plays into the wild lifestyle a lot of people presume he is living based on his activity since his last MMA outing. Announcing his return with a bottle of beer in his hand and appearing to be intoxicated while he was doing so does not fill us full of confidence that 'Mayhem' is taking his return to the sport all too seriously.

In a situation like his, you can only hope that the people in his team will make sure that he prepares for the fight adequately, and if he is unable to do so, we can only hope that someone intervenes and stops him from competing.

Luke Barnatt is a fighter who will stop at nothing to get himself back into the Octagon. Having clocked up a 3-3 record with UFC, he was released on the back of his loss to Mark Munoz in the Philippines last May. In his only fight since then, he captured the Venator middleweight championship with a fourth round submission win over Italy's Mattia Schiavolin.

Miller's announcement of his return to the sport is undoubtedly worrying based on his exploits over the last four years, and although it seems unlikely at this point, it would be amazing if the veteran could find some redemption through his training for his championship showdown with Barnatt. He might appear as though he has lost the run of himself over the last few years, but the last thing MMA needs is another tragic story about a fighter after he hung up his gloves.